Flying High
by arizony
Summary: A "Poetry-Fic". Aang loves being an airbender and wants to share it with the person he loves most.


I'm sorry it has taken me so long to post another story. My inspiration seems to come in bursts sometimes.

This one-shot is not a Song-Fic. Rather, it is what I guess one would call a poem-fic. The poem you will find interspersed is "High Flight" by Pilot Officer John Gillespie Magee, Jr (RAF).

Last I checked I don't own Avatar, nor the poem, "High Flight".

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**Flying High**

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Aang had always loved being an airbender. The exhilaration of the wind in your face, the sight of the clouds and birds as you flew under, among, and above them always brought a thrill to him.

_Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth  
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;_

So it was no wonder that he would want to share this with the one person he loved more than any other in the whole world.

Katara was a master waterbender and held the key to the most precious thing in her world. No one else could ever hold the key to Aang's heart. Yet while she had ridden on Appa, had even tried one of the gliders at the Northern Air Temple, and she had occasionally flown on the glider with Aang, she still held some little fear of being up there with nothing to stand on.  
_  
Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth  
Of sun-split clouds, — and done a hundred things  
You have not dreamed of — wheeled and soared and swung_

Aang had decided the place he wanted to share this new adventure with Katara had to be someplace that reminded them of all the places they had been. It was also the place he wanted to start the next part of their journey together. So he began plans to take her with him into his element, so she could share a little bit of how it felt to be an airbender. Then, he would settle them both back down to earth in the most beautiful spot he could find. Nothing less was worthy of Katara's beauty, and nothing less would suffice for the proper atmosphere to ask her to marry him.

_High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there,  
I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung  
My eager craft through footless halls of air. . . .  
_  
Accordingly, he let Zuko know he would not be available for any consultations for the next several days. He sought out the wisest person he knew and asked Iroh if such a place existed nearby. Then, he secretly took Appa with supplies to a small island Iroh told him about. It was a Fire Nation island with a luxuriant forest, streams, a waterfall, and a lake, along with a beautiful, sandy beach. There were also cliffs and hills where he could take Katara soaring, letting her feel the thrill of the wind as they swept through the air on his glider.

_Up, up the long, delirious burning blue  
I've topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace_

The day he had been anticipating finally came, and he told Katara there was someplace special he wanted to show her. Although she gave him a little bit of a quizzical look, she joined him on Appa, and they flew away from the palace area.

Katara, being the inquisitive young woman she was, asked Aang where they were going. He only told her it was a surprise.

As the island came into view, Katara gasped at the beauty of it. The waterfall, the small lake, the streams, and a white sandy beach complete with a small grass hut all appeared as Aang directed Appa to fly around the island.

_Where never lark, or ever eagle flew —  
And, while with silent, lifting mind I've trod_

After Appa set down on the beach, Katara hugged Aang and kissed his cheek, murmuring her approval of the picnic location. They sat down to lunch on the beach, then walked to the bottom of the waterfall, where the small lake was. There they enjoyed the view and played in the water with their waterbending.

"Oh, Aang, this is so beautiful. I don't know how it could be any better," breathed Katara as she hugged him close.

"It _is_ going to get even better than this. The sunset is more beautiful when you see it from the top of the falls," Aang replied with a twinkle in his eye. "Hold on!" he said as he clicked his glider open, launching them both into the air.

Katara shrieked as she clung to him even tighter. "Aang! What are you doing? What if I fall?"

"I won't let you," Aang said as he guided them up the side of the waterfall. "Open your eyes, Katara. Look at the rainbow."

She opened one eye, then the other, gazing in amazement at the rainbow above them, forming an arc through the spray from the waterfall. She began looking around as they flew up even further, marveling at the splendor of the island and its beauty.

As Aang guided them down onto the top of the cliff, the sun was just beginning its descent. The vivid colors which appeared amidst the spray from the waterfall caused Katara's eyes to widen even further as she realized she and Aang had just flown up here together on his glider. She'd ridden on it with him before, but he was usually trying to get her out of mortal danger. This was the first chance she'd had to relax and enjoy the experience, and she'd wasted most of it being afraid. She resolved not to do that again.

_The high untrespassed sanctity of space,  
Put out my hand, and touched the face of God._

"It's so beautiful, Aang." she said. The ocean began glowing like molten metal as the sun sank further behind the horizon.

"Yes, it is," Aang replied quietly, his eyes focused on Katara.

She glanced over at him as he said this, noticing that his eyes were on her, a smile on his face.

He took something from inside his tunic. "Katara, I wanted to bring you here because you are special and deserve something special," he said as he sank to his knees.

She gasped as he held his hand out to her, opening it up to show her the necklace he had made for her. "Katara, you are my anchor in this world. You are my inspiration and my rock. Katara, would you marry me?"

Tears began running freely down Katara's cheeks as she slowly took the necklace out of Aang's hand. Turning it over she saw the intricate design he had carved into it, along with their names.

"Oh, Aang," she said as she dropped to her knees and threw herself to him. "Of course I will"

After Aang tied the necklace around her neck, Katara leaned to him and claimed his lips.

As she broke the kiss, she whispered, "I wonder if the waterfall and spray are as pretty in the moonlight as they are in the sun?"

"I don't know, want to find out?" Aang asked with his characteristic grin as he clicked his glider open again.

Katara shrieked with joy, her eyes wide with excitement, clinging to his lithe frame as he launched them both over the waterfall.

_Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth  
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;_  
_Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth  
Of sun-split clouds, — and done a hundred things  
You have not dreamed of — wheeled and soared and swung_  
_High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there,  
I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung  
My eager craft through footless halls of air. . . ._

_Up, up the long, delirious burning blue  
I've topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace_  
_Where never lark, or ever eagle flew —  
And, while with silent, lifting mind I've trod_  
_The high untrespassed sanctity of space,  
Put out my hand, and touched the face of God._

-Flying Officer John Gillespie Magee, Jr.-

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Thank you, once again, to my long suffering Beta, Liselle129. My hat's off to you, ma'am. For those of y'all who haven't read her work (few though there be), her latest story, "The Path Ahead" is one of her best, which is really saying something, as she is one of the best authors on this site.

A little background on Flying Officer Magee.....He was an American who ran to Canada during WW-II, not to escape the war, but to join the fighting before the US entered the war. He flew the famous Supermarine Spitfires over Great Britain during the early days of WW-II. He died when his plane crashed just 3 days after the US entered the war and 3 months after he wrote this poem.


End file.
